Extremely Metal-poor (EMP) Stars

We have a National Science Foundation funded program investigating the most metal-poor stars in the Galaxy. In the links below we have a brief summary of the long and interesting history of the field, a list of the most metal-poor stars known in the Galaxy, a bibliography with links to many of the papers in the field, short summaries of the research our group is carrying out in this area and we have posted Keck HIRES and ESI spectra of many of our EMP stars.

Here is the summary of our program from our most recent NSF proposal

A little History

A list of the most metal-poor stars known

Our programs

An introductory-level description of where the elements come from

Click here to download FITS format spectra from our Keck/ESI-based program searching for EMP stars. The data have been extracted, wavelength calibrated and shifted to zero velocity. A fuller description of this aspect of the program and of these data can be found in Lai, Bolte, Johnson & Lucatello, 2004, AJ, 128, 2402.

Click here to download FITS format spectra from our Keck/HIRES-based program measuring abundances in EMP stars. The data have been extracted and wavelength calibrated. The objects are:

CS22183-015 - red and blue spectral settings, s-process rich star. See Johnson & Bolte, ApJ, 579, L87.
HD115444 - blue setting, high S/N, [Fe/H]=-3. See Johnson & Bolte, ApJ, 554, 888.
HD122563- blue setting, high S/N, [Fe/H]-2.7. See Johnson & Bolte, ApJ, 554, 888.
HD88609- blue setting, high S/N, [Fe/H]-2.9. See Johnson & Bolte, ApJ, 554, 888.

Mike Bolte HomePage

We are very grateful for support from the National Science Foundation through grant AST-0098617, and to the Keck Foundation, University of California, CalTech and NASA for making the Keck Observatory a reality.